Lyndon B Johnson

Johnson was born on Aug.   27, 1908, near Johnson City, Tex., the


      eldest son of Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., and Rebekah Baines Johnson.   His


      father, a struggling farmer and cattle speculator in the hill country


      of Texas, provided only an uncertain income for his family.


      Politically active, Sam Johnson served five terms in the Texas


      legislature.   His mother had varied cultural interests and placed high


      value on education; she was fiercely ambitious for her children.


      Johnson attended public schools in Johnson City and received a B.S.


      degree from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos.   He


      then taught for a year in Houston before going to Washington in 1931 as


      secretary to a Democratic Texas congressman, Richard M.   Kleberg.


      During the next 4 years Johnson developed a wide network of political


      contacts in Washington, D.C.   On Nov.   17, 1934, he married Claudia


      Alta Taylor, known as "Lady Bird." A warm, intelligent, ambitious


      woman, she was a great asset to Johnson's career.   They had two


      daughters, Lynda Byrd, born in 1944, and Luci Baines, born in 1947.   In


      1933, Franklin D.   Roosevelt entered the White House.   Johnson greatly


      admired the president, who named him, at age 27, to head the National


      Youth Administration in Texas.   This job, which Johnson held from 1935


      to 1937, entailed helping young people obtain employment and schooling.


      It confirmed Johnson's faith in the positive potential of government


      and won for him a group of supporters in Texas.


 


          In 1937, Johnson sought and won a Texas seat in Congress, where he


      championed public works, reclamation, and public power programs.   When


      war...